CenterPoint planning on having extra crews on standby ahead of arctic cold front
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- There is still some uncertainty about exactly how much winter weather will arrive next week, and many Houstonians also have questions for CenterPoint Energy about keeping the lights on.
ABC13 reached out to the energy provider to ask how it's preparing.
CenterPoint officials said they're ready and have extra staffing plans in place in case the cold weather heading our way causes any outages.
They said snow and cold temperatures do not majorly impact their systems, but we know that ice and strong winds can.
If you lived in Houston during the 2021 winter storm, when many went days without power, you know that people are understandably worrisome any time we talk about low temperatures or potential ice.
SEE RELATED: CenterPoint and ERCOT preparing for frigid temps next week in Houston
CenterPoint has reiterated over and over this week that they are more prepared now than they were then.
The company said it tested its equipment, trimmed thousands of miles of trees back, and added heaters to some of its devices to prevent ice from building up.
Every Houstonian is hoping their preparations will be enough.
"Should these types of conditions occur, then you know CenterPoint will be prepared. We will expand our workforce over the weekend. We will have additional contractors in place. We will do what we need to do to get our customers restored as quickly and safely as possible," CenterPoint Communications Manager Michelle Hundley told ABC13.
Many may remember that CenterPoint's outage tracker wasn't working during Hurricane Beryl. The energy provider said it's been redone since then and will be ready in case we need to use it next week.
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